At which plate boundary do rifts and mid-ocean ridges form?
divergent plate boundaries
Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.
What are the mid-ocean ridges and ocean trenches?
A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.
Are there trenches at the Mid Ocean Ridge?
Rapidly spreading ridges have a much more gentle slopes. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, for instance, is a slow spreading center. It spreads 2-5 centimeters (. 8-2 inches) every year and forms an ocean trench about the size of the Grand Canyon.
Where can you find mid-ocean ridges rift valleys and trenches?
What are mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys, and trenches? The portion running through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Trenches are deep ravines in the seafloor. Rift valleys are deep valleys running through the center of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and mid-ocean ridges.
What plate movement causes rifts?
A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift. Rift valleys are found both on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading.
What is the difference between mid ocean ridges and rift valleys?
The major difference between different types is what type of plate the divergent boundary is between. If the boundary is found between two continental plates you are left with a rift valley. If two oceanic plates begin moving away from each other it creates a mid-oceanic ridge.
What is the difference between a rift and a trench?
As nouns the difference between trench and rift is that trench is a long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground while rift is a chasm or fissure.
What trench means?
English Language Learners Definition of trench : a long, narrow hole that is dug in the ground : ditch. : a deep, narrow hole in the ground that is used as protection for soldiers. : a long, narrow hole in the ocean floor.
Is rift and trench the same?
What is the difference between trenches and mid ocean ridges?
A mid ocean ridge is a divergent boundary where plates are moving apart, An ocean trench is a convergent boundary where plates are moving together.
How are mid-ocean ridges and trenches similar?
Mid-ocean ridges are areas of rifting where two tectonic plates are diverging from one another. Magma rises up through the rifts and forms mountain ranges. Deep-ocean trenches are formed at convergent plate boundaries where the more dense plate (usually the oceanic) subducts under the less dense (usually continental).
How are trenches formed?
Ocean trenches are a result of tectonic activity, which describes the movement of the Earth’s lithosphere. At many convergent plate boundaries, dense lithosphere melts or slides beneath less-dense lithosphere in a process called subduction, creating a trench.
What is the difference between an ocean trench and a mid ocean ridge?
The new crustal material is pushed apart forming two different plates moving in two different directions. An ocean trench is where old crustal material is pushed under another plate where it is melted and turned into magma. The sediments near a mid ocean ridge on the youngest sedimentary layer.
Where are the trenches in the Pacific Ocean?
Trench (24,629 feet) located near the Ryukyu Islands; it marks the boundary between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Trench (27,929 feet) located east of Japan, on the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Eurasian Plate; this zone is marked by intense seismic activity.
What are the trenches and ridges of the Indian Ocean?
ocean trenches and ridges Trench: very deep, elongated cavity bordering a continent or an island arc; it forms when one tectonic plate slides beneath another. Mountain range in the middle of the Indian Ocean that separates the African and Australian-Indian plates.
Which is the longest trench in the world?
Trench (26,460 feet) bordering South America; the world’s longest trench (3,700 mi), it is located on the boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. Mountain range separating the Pacific and Antarctic plates; it joins the eastern Pacific Ridge off the coast of South America.